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Loving Kindness in the Land of Summer Solstice

By Dharamjot Singh, New Mexico

I’ve just returned from a week of amazing rock climbing in the San Rafael Swell in Utah. As I drove back down to New Mexico it was raining the entire day. What a blessing for this parched environment. When I pulled into my driveway, I was excited to see that the tree in my front yard had started to bloom, and the little black stink beetles had emerged from hibernation. Spring in the high desert is miraculous. Everything is happening so fast, and that is how Summer Solstice is approaching—just another month or so until we gather together at Guru Ram Das Puri.

It was two years ago that I arrived at Summer Solstice to work on the Set-up crew with no understanding of Kundalini Yoga whatsoever. I remember thinking to myself that whatever “Sadhana” meant, 4:00 a.m. was very early to start work. I showed up in jeans and work boots with no mat, and sat down on the floor of the Tantric Shelter to practice for the first time. Halfway through Sadhana the Events Manager gave me a sheepskin to sit on. During the next twenty days I began to have an experience with Kundalini Yoga. Although each of our experiences is unique, we all share a common understanding that yoga and meditation work on our mind, body, and spirit to help us live up to our fullest potential and our highest consciousness.

Whether we come to Guru Ram Das Puri to heal, to practice, to connect, or to simply have a good time with friends, let us do so with respect and gratitude for each other, for the land, and for the “Golden Chain” of teachers who came before us.

Yogi Bhajan, in his wisdom, gave us the Five Sutras of the Aquarian Age:

Recognize that the other person is you.

There is a way through every block.

When the time is on you, start, and the pressure will be off.

Understand through compassion or you will misunderstand the times.

Vibrate the cosmos, cosmos shall clear the path.

Soon we will all be connecting in union with the divine through Kundalini Yoga, Naad, service, friendship, and loving kindness up the hill at Guru Ram Das Puri. We will have that time together to process the year’s events so far and prepare for the time to come. It is my prayer that we leave the camp and the land in better condition than we found it, that we come to love new friends and family, and that we come together in our practice and find the power to become living spiritual beings. Sat Nam.

Dharamjot Singh is an artist and certified Kundalini Yoga Instructor. He currently works and lives in Española, New Mexico as part of the 3HO Events Team. He would like to hear from the community about suggestions on how to practice being an eco-responsible yogi, and hopes to see everyone at Summer Solstice this year. You may contact him by writing to [email protected].